When you’re out on a limb you can trust God with the impossible. That’s our subject today and if you’re able to turn with me into the Scriptures, let’s go to Luke 19.
Now let’s take a visit to the ancient city of Jericho,
I first visited Jericho in 1975, and for the first time I understood the meaning of the word oasis. In the middle of a rugged land, a set of springs and palm trees created what the Jewish historian Josephus called “a little paradise.” The rain that falls on Israel’s central mountains is soaked up by the limestone and runs through unground tributaries to feed the springs at Jericho. It was called “The City of Palms” (2 Chronicles 28:15).
On my tours of Israel, Jericho is usually a lunch stop where people can ride a camel, buy amazing oranges and grapefruits, and gaze in wonder at the Greek Orthodox Monastery of Temptation clinging to the side of a barren mountain. I’ve taken the cable car up to the monastery before, but it’s an arduous trip and the cable car isn’t always running. The shops and restaurants in Jericho are full of Dead Sea products and of Hebron glass vases and stemware, and there’s something festive and happy about this oasis town.
In the middle of Jericho are the ruins of past generations, an archaeological site. Jericho is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities on earth. It’s also one of the lowest cities on earth, sitting at about 800 feet below sea level.
When Joshua led the Israelites across the Jordan River, this fortified city stood directly in their path, blocking the road inland. The Israelite army needed a victory under its belt, and the Lord gave Joshua a remarkable battle plan. The army was to march around the city once every day for six days, and on the seventh to make the circuit seven times.
As I wrote in my book, The Jordan River Rules, we too must learn to march and encircle our obstacles in the name of the Lord. We must encircle them with prayer, with praise, with perseverance, and with the promises of Scripture in our hands and hearts.
Henry Melville wrote, “Let us remember that then only can there be hope of success in our endeavors, when we advance, like the Israelites, in a believing [frame of mind], using in faith the weapons which God has revealed, and pleading in faith the promises which God has delivered.”
After the destruction of Jericho by the incoming Israelites, the city was rebuilt. Elisha had a school of prophets there (2 Kings 2:5)
In the days of Jesus, the Jews who traveled from Galilee and the northern regions would bypass the mountainous Samaritan region and trek southward along the valley by the Jordan River. Coming to Jericho, they would turn right and take the rugged trail up the Wadi Kelt to Jerusalem, a six-hour climb. This was the famous Jericho road, some of which my grandson and I have hiked.
The Jewish scholar Alfred Edersheim described Jericho in the days of Christ like this:
Here grew palm trees of various kinds, sycamores, the cypress-flower… but especially the balsam plant. If to these advantages of climate, soil, and productions we add… that it lay on the caravan road from Damascus and Arabia, that it was a great commercial and military center, and lastly, its nearness to Jerusalem, to which it formed the last station on the road of the festive pilgrims from Galilee and Perea—it would not be difficult to understand either its importance or its prosperity.
We can picture to ourselves the scene as our Lord on that afternoon in early spring beheld it…. We are approaching it from the Jordan. It is protected by walls, flanked by four forts. These walls, the theatre, and the amphitheatre, have been built by Herod; the new palace and its splendid gardens are the work of Archelaus. All around wave groves of feathery palms, rising in stately beauty…, gardens of roses, and especially sweet, scented balsam plantations—the largest behind the royal gardens, of which the perfume is carried by the wind almost out to sea, and which may have given to the city its name (Jericho, the perfumed).
It is the Eden of Palestine, the very fairyland of the old world. And how strangely is this gem set! Deep down in that hollowed valley, through which the torturous Jordan winds…. Far across the river rises the mountains of Moab, on which lies the purple and violet coloring. Towards Jerusalem and northward stretched those bare limestone hills, the hiding place of robbers along the desolate road toward the city….
And in the streets of Jericho a motley throng meets: pilgrims from Galilee and Perea, priests who have a station there, traders from all lands who have come to purchase or sell, or are on the great caravan road from Arabia and Damascus—robbers and anchorites, wild fanatics, soldiers, couriers, and busy publicans, for Jericho was the central station for the collection of tax and custom….
And (as Jewish legend had it) the sound to Temple music came from Moriah, borne in faint echoes on the breeze, like the distant sound of many waters.
It was through Jericho that Jesus, having entered, was passing through….
And that’s where the Lord had a providential rendezvous with one of the worst men in town who was clinging to a limb above the busy roadway—the wee little man known as Zacchaeus.
Perhaps you know the story of the rich young ruler. But did you know Jesus met two of them, back to back. In Luke 18, a rich young man, a leader or ruler, came to Jesus asking what he needed to do in order to gain eternal life. Jesus told him to keep all the commandments perfectly, and the young man said he had already done that. Then Jesus said, “Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me” (Luke 18:22). When the fellow couldn’t bring himself to do that, Jesus said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone rich to enter the kingdom of God” (verses 24-25).
Someone spoke up and said, in effect, “It’s impossible for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. That means rich people can never be saved.” But Jesus said, “What is impossible for man is possible with God” (verse 27).
Jesus is making His way down the Jordan Valley on His approach to Jerusalem, where He is going to be crucified. This is His final trip. And on His way He enters the city of Jericho. Luke 19 begins, “Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus.”
The meaning of that name is “Pure” or “Righteous One.” His parents had a vision for the son they wanted to raise, and they named him with high aspirations. They dreamed of a son who would be of solid and sterling character, who would reflect the holiness of God.
But Zacchaeus had broken their hearts. Verse 2 says, “He was a chief tax collector and was wealthy.” We’ve already studied first-century Jewish tax collectors in the story of Matthew Levi. They were corrupt, treasonous, despised, and crooked. But Zaccheaus had gotten rich, and he had become the head of all the other tax collectors in the region.
He was also shorter than most other men. Verses 3-4 says, “He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.”
So Zacchaeus was rich. He was a ruler, a leader. And he was young enough to run ahead of everyone and clamber up a tree. He is the second rich, young ruler Jesus had encountered within a few miles of His travels. And according to the Lord’s own word, it would be easier for a camel to crawl through the eye of a dressmaker’s needle than for him to become a child of God and a follower of Christ.
But even though it appears an impossibility, with God there are no such things.
There was something about Jesus that fascinated Zacchaeus. He had undoubtedly heard about Him and perhaps Zacchaeus was growing tired of his rich, but empty, life. He knew he had disappointed his parents. He knew he was disliked by his community. He realized that his money and his large house and all his possessions hadn’t satisfied his spiritual hunger.
He wanted to see Jesus. He was curious. He was drawn. But he was too short to see over the crowd, so he ran ahead and scurried up a tree and was literally out on a limb. What happened next came as a shock. Jesus and His entourage stopped right under the tree, and the Savior looked up and said, “Zacchaeus! There you are! Hurry and come down. I want to spend the night in your house. I simply must stay with you.”
At that moment, Zacchaeus felt a joy he had never before known. He climbed down out of that tree and led Jesus and His disciples down the street, around the block, and through the gates of his estate. He introduced Jesus to his wife and children. He quickly gave orders for lodging to be prepared, a meal to be cooked, and he did everything in his power to make Jesus feel at home. Despite being a short man, he felt ten feet tall.
That night he threw a dinner for his friends to introduce them to Jesus. His friends were not the most respected citizens of the community. They were the city’s undesirables. They were the deplorables. Some of the people of Jericho made critical comments. They said, “Jesus has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”
But inside the dining hall that night, Zacchaeus stood and made a speech. He gave his testimony. He said, as I imagine it: “Jesus has changed my life. He has done something I thought was impossible. He has restored my self-image. He has brought joy to my family and me. I’ve made a lot of money, but I’ve been disappointed in the way I’ve lived. Now I’m making some changes. I’m going to give half my yearly income to help fund ministries to the poor, and I’m also going to make restitution to anyone I’ve defrauded. From this point on, I am a changed man. Jesus has sought me out and saved me.”
Then it was Jesus’ turn to get up and say a few words. Luke records them verbatim: “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:9-10).
That’s one of our Lord’s clearest statements of purpose as to why He came. He came to do the impossible. None of us can get to Heaven on our own any more than a camel can pass through the eye of a tailor’s needle. But Jesus can do the impossible. He can save to the uttermost. He came to seek and to save those who are lost.
One rich young ruler refused; but another one accepted.
I’m of the opinion that Zacchaeus didn’t sleep very much that night. He was too excited. He and his family probably stayed up in the wee hours talking of Jesus. I imagine the exhausted disciples went on to bed, but Zacchaeus sat and talked with Jesus by the flickering light of the oil lamb. I suppose Jesus told Zacchaeus what He had been trying to tell His disciples, that He was going to Jerusalem where He would be crucified and would rise again for the sins of the world.
Zacchaeus seemed to understand, because, according to our best traditions, in coming years he would be appointed by Simon Peter to be the head of the church in Caesarea. There is a set of books known as the Apostolic Constitutions that dates to about 375 AD. They were probably composed and kept in the church in Antioch. And this is our source for the plausible tradition that Zacchaeus became a prominent church leader in the first century, serving in the city of Caesarea along the Israeli coast of the Mediterranean.
Jesus took a man who was out on a limb and got him through the eye of a needle.
Our Lord told us that His Father could do the impossible, and His words are affirmed throughout Scripture. Thirty-three years before, the angel Grabriel appeared to the Lord’s mother, Mary, telling her she would give birth to a child without physical intimacy with a man but through the overshadowing work of the Holy Spirit. Gabriel told her, “For with God nothing will be impossible” (Luke 1:37 NKJV). I supposed that’s where Jesus first learned this truth. I imagine His mother shared all that with Him when He was young.
The patriarch Job prayed, “I know that you can do all things” (Job 42:1).
The prophet Jeremiah prayed, “Nothing is too hard for you” (Jeremiah 32:17).
Jesus described the impossible as a camel crawling through the eye of the needle of a leatherworker or a seamstress. But here’s another way to describe the impossible. It involves things that you and I need, but we have absolutely no power to bring them about.
It is impossible for us to know the future or chart our own paths.
It is impossible for us to change and transform another person, no matter how much we love them.
There are some problems that are impossible for us to solve; some goals that are impossible for us to reach; some needs that are impossible for us to meet. Those are the things we have to give to God.
In her book, Prodigals and Those Who Love Them, Ruth Bell Graham wrote, “We mothers must take care of the possible and trust God for the impossible. We are to love, affirm, encourage, teach, listen, and care for the physical needs of the family. But we cannot convict of sin, create hunger and thirst after God, or convert. These are miracles, and miracles are not in our department.”
Let me close this episode with another miracle that happened to a man who was out on a limb, another man who was literally at a life-changing moment while high in a tree. His name was Tom Kildare, and he was a Marine during World War II. His daughter, Christine, later said that her father rarely talked about his combat experiences, but there was one story he freely told.
It happened just as the war was winding down. Kildare was serving in the Pacific theater, and one day he was assigned to scout for enemy troop movements in a rough jungle terrain. He climbed up into a tree for a wider view when suddenly the entire area beneath the tree was filled with enemy Japanese soldiers. They decided to camp under that tree, and Kildare was trapped above them in the branches. He was afraid to even breathe for fear of giving away his position.
He earnestly prayed for God to deliver him from this impossible situation. He prayed every prayer he could think of. He prayed for deliverance. He even prayed for the enemy soldiers beneath him. He realized they were men like him with loved ones back home, with wives and children and dads and moms. Beneath him, the soldiers were laughing and sharing letters and pictures from home.
Kildare began to realize he would not survive to return home. He could not remain motionless and undetected in that tree for much longer. He began to pray for mercy and to prepare himself to be captured and killed. As he ended his prayer, he made the sign of the cross over his chest. Just as he did so, an enemy soldier looked up and saw him. The soldier looked directly into Kildare’s eyes and the Marine made the sign of the cross.
To his amazement, the enemy soldier also silently made the sign of the cross on his forehead, then put his fingers to his lips as if to say, “Be still, my brother. I will not betray you.” The enemy soldiers suddenly began to move out, and soon they were gone. Kildare jumped out of the tree and escaped. But for as long as he lived, he prayed for that silent brother in Christ who had saved his life in the name of the cross.
So, my friend, when you are out on a limb, encircle your situation with prayer, with praise, with perseverance, and with the promises of Scripture. And trust God to do what you cannot.